Hi Komatias, thank you for the input.

I'm sure there are lots of things better than what I'm trying to achieve, but in my view it all goes down to what one's able to compromise, like every single bit in this life. I think everybody agree a lathe/mill combo is not a new concept. That being said, I don's see a problem with the design idea. The challenge would be how it's implemented. I now need to understand what's wrong with my approach.

I understand a VFD + 3 phase motor would work similar say to a 3kW spindle found on the ebay, but also add an indexing pulse into the equation. Is that correct? Is there any VFD/motor you would recommend for a DIY application, or does any reasonable priced ones bought over the ebay would do the job?

Cheers!